We are recruiting an experienced Culinary R&D Chef on behalf of a well-established restaurant group in Jeddah. The successful candidate will lead recipe development, menu innovation and culinary standardization across the group’s restaurant portfolio.
This is a development-focused position and does not involve the daily management of an individual restaurant kitchen. Each restaurant has its own Head Chef. The Culinary R&D Chef will work centrally with management, operations and restaurant chefs to develop new dishes and improve existing menu items.
Key Responsibilities
- Develop, test and refine new dishes and menu items
- Improve existing recipes based on quality, cost and operational feedback
- Prepare detailed and standardized recipe cards
- Establish accurate portions, yields, preparation methods and presentation standards
- Conduct food costing and support menu-engineering decisions
- Organize kitchen trials, tastings and product evaluations
- Work with procurement to identify suitable and commercially viable ingredients
- Support seasonal menus, promotions and new restaurant concepts
- Train Head Chefs and kitchen teams before menu launches
- Monitor branch implementation and ensure consistent quality across all restaurants
- Troubleshoot recipes and make adjustments based on operational performance
- Maintain complete R&D documentation and menu-development records
Candidate Requirements
- Strong experience as an R&D Chef, Brand Chef, Development Chef, Corporate Chef or senior culinary professional
- Restaurant-group or multi-brand F&B experience is strongly preferred
- Strong knowledge of Lebanese, Levantine and Middle Eastern cuisine
- Proven experience in recipe development, food costing and menu engineering
- Ability to translate creative ideas into practical, consistent and commercially viable restaurant recipes
- Strong documentation, presentation and kitchen-training skills
- Currently based in Saudi Arabia or possessing relevant KSA market experience
- Willing to be based in Jeddah
Candidates whose experience is primarily focused on daily kitchen operations should be able to demonstrate substantial hands-on involvement in menu development, recipe standardization and multi-branch implementation.
Interested candidates may apply by submitting their updated CV and mentioning their current location, notice period and salary expectations.